TeamLease Services, India’s largest staffing solutions company and Indian Institute of Job Training (IIJT), India’s fastest growing vocational skills training company organized a job fair at Surat in collaboration with the Development Support Agency of Gujarat (D-SAG), Tribal Development Department (Govt. of Gujarat) under the ‘Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojna. The event aimed at connecting job aspirants with employers, career counselors and training professionals. The job fair at Kadodara, Surat was fourth in the series of job fairs that witnessed huge success with attendance of over 1000 Tribal Youths, in an integrated approach to address employment and employability issues. Along with employment opportunities, TeamLease and IIJT also provided various services like Counseling for job suitability, skill repair and skills training.

Sh. Mangubhai Patel, Tribal Development Minster Gujarat said, “In India, students face the challenge of meeting industry expectations, as they do not possess the right skills. The Gujarat Government wants to create more such opportunities via job fairs to guide these students towards a better future via enhancing their productivity.”

According to Neeti Sharma, Vice President, TeamLease Services, “We are honored to work with the Government of Gujarat to organize this job fair. We believe that by providing counseling and training to the youth, we are improving their employment chances. The job fair will see an integrated approach to addressing employment and employability issues.”

Ajay Mishra, Project Head TeamLease IIJT said, “It is fair to emphasize that in India, employability is the real challenge more than unemployment. The Government of Gujarat has shown progressive thought in repositioning the conventional job fairs to target not only employment but also employability.”

Staffing solutions company TeamLease Services, and Indian Institute of Job Training (IIJT), a vocational training organisation will commence a series of district level job fairs in Gujarat from Mandvi, Surat on June 5. The job fairs are being organised in partnership with the Development Support Agency of Gujarat (D-SAG), Tribal Development Department (Govt. of Gujarat) under the 'Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojna'. The event is planned to connect job aspirants with employers, assessment counselors, and training professionals, according to a release from TeamLease.

About 12 companies will participate in the Mandvi fair, which expects upto 2000 prospective candidates to visit the day-long job fair. Manish Sabharwal, chairman, TeamLease Services said, "We are honoured to work with the Government of Gujarat to organise this job fair series. Ensuring a remunerative job for the large working age population is one of the greatest developmental challenges facing the country today and special and innovative efforts such as this are imperative to addressing these challenges. The job fairs are also a strong hinge to our commitment to train and place over 60,000 Gujarat tribal youth over the next five years."

According to Ashish Prasad, CEO, IIJT said, "It is fair to emphasize that in India, employability is the real challenge more than unemployment. The job fairs are intended for geographies and populations with limited access to opportunities and will help enhance their employability quotient on par with their peers elsewhere."

TeamLease has acquired a substantial majority stake in the Indian Institute of Job Training (IIJT), which offers short term and long term courses in the areas of finance, information technology, retail and sales and marketing.

TeamLease Services, India's largest staffing solutions company and Indian Institute of Job Training (IIJT), India's fastest growing vocational skills training company received over 1000 jobseekers at the first ever job fair for the youth in Sonepat, Haryana. The one day event saw jobseekers coming in from the regions of Sonepat, Gohana, Ganaur, Murthal and Rai.

The job seekers were provided free assessment & career counseling sessions. The participating companies included Reliance Dairies, Modern Dairies, and Signet Seeds, among others. The public-private initiative was organized in partnership with District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) & District Urban Development Agency (DUDA) Sonepat of Haryana. The event was planned with an objective to connect job aspirants with employers, skill assessment and careers counselors.

Sh. Ajit Balaji Joshi, I.A.S Deputy Commissioner Sonepat said, "In India, employability is a greater challenge as compared to unemployment. The Government of Haryana intends to change this mindset in repositioning the conventional job fairs & Skills Centre to address not only employment but also employability issues. These job fairs & Skills Centre are intended for youth with limited access to opportunities and will help enhance their employability quotient at par with their peers elsewhere."

Neeti Sharma, Vice President at Teamlease Services Pvt. Ltd said "We are honored to work with the Government of Haryana to organize this job fair and are glad to announce the commencement of our new collaborative project to set up the Skills Centre at Sonepat. The inauguration is likely to happen by the 2nd week of January 2011. We believe that ensuring remunerative jobs for a large segment of working age population is one of the greatest developmental challenges facing the country today and special efforts such as this are imperative to addressing these issues." "Haryana is among India's most progressive states and there are several opportunities for job seekers here. We have observed that most youth lack the necessary skills required to take advantage of the opportunities in the state and elsewhere. TeamLease-IIJT will accurately assess and provide sound training for the candidates, thereby increasing their placement chances as well as their productivity at the work place. On a wider plane, the Skills Centre project will help offset various development-related challenges that have become an important national issue today," commented Ashish Prasad, CEO of IIJT.

Dayananda Sagar Institutions, Bangalore and TeamLease Solutions, a professional placement agency, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding, through which TeamLease will facilitate placements at the college. Companies for the campus recruitment process at Dayananda Sagar will now be brought in by TeamLease.

The MoU is aimed at giving all students an equal chance at recruitment — irrespective of whether they have performed well in their exams.

The emphasis is also on placing students who have scored below 65 per cent, and would otherwise find it difficult to get a job during campus placements. “The idea is to help get jobs for students who have not scored so well in their exams,” says Mrudula P, Manager (Sourcing), TeamLease.

The process follows a method slightly different to the normal placement procedure. Grades are not revealed to prospective employers right at the beginning. Instead, the grades of the students are given to the recruiter only after candidates are shortlisted. “Initially, the client meets the student and matches him or her with the job. This is done first, then the grades are shared, mostly as a record,” Mrudula explains.

The management of Dayananda Sagar feels that such a tie-up is beneficial to students, particularly those who have not scored very high in the examinations. “There are many students who are intelligent and smart but may not have scored the cut off percentage specified by certain employers. We want to help such students get jobs. Another advantage of a tie-up with professional placement agency is that many employers will simultaneously be present on campus and students get the opportunity to be tested and evaluated by many employers,” says Prof B Thyagaraja, Director of HR, QA & Placement.

As many as 850 students participated in a job fair organised by TeamLease on the DSI campus recently. Online and written tests were administered, and interviews conducted. The institution is confident of getting a good response from the recruiters. The management says that the tie-up will help them achieve 100 per cent placement, which can be a tough task otherwise.

TeamLease has conducted similar campus recruitment processes in MBA colleges in Varanasi and Orissa.

“The college is at an advantage because we have a good reach — we have many clients looking to recruit young people. We’ve already built a rapport with our clients, so co-ordinating is easier,” says Mrudula.

“The DSI management has set itself a target of 100 per cent placement of its students and hence sought the support of TeamLease Services. TeamLease has an all India presence and a large clientele, many of whom may not insist on 65 per cent marks scored, but focus more on ‘on-ground’ assessment and actual performance of the student,” adds Prof Thyagaraja.